has any one drivin an american truck or who would like to?
I drove a bonneted Freightliner around an airfield in South Africa while working on an exhibition.
The normal driver loved it but i think the pink (yes pink) paintwork put me off 
Oh yes and it was uncomfortable compared to European trucks. And that was driving on smooth tarmac!
I’ve driven an International, which is a cabover- in other words a non-bonneted truck.
It was horrific- at least 20 years behind European trucks in terms of design and comfort. It looked good, if you like that sort of thing, but that is where the Positive Points ended.
wouldn’t mind a drive in the volvo nt,
i have always loved to go and drive one abroad, sell up and live in one with the wife. i just love to try it . drive one of them road trains.
american trucks look good with big bonnetts big sleepercabs and loadsa chrome but there awful to drive . the volvo vn is a nice truck never driven one but sat in one but its nearly all volvo fh gear in it ,dash, seats,gearbox etc suspension that works, its the closest to a european truck youll get in america
STEADYEDDIE:
i have always loved to go and drive one abroad, sell up and live in one with the wife. i just love to try it . drive one of them road trains.
Ya havent got a wife yet
Dont forget the old saying steadyeddie…
" The grass is always greener on the other side"
Saying that if its something you want you should give it a go otherwise you’ll always be saying “what if…”
As with everything theres good points and bad
october the 11th i will be married mr bugcos. so there!!!
STEADYEDDIE:
i have always loved to go and drive one abroad, sell up and live in one with the wife. i just love to try it . drive one of them road trains.
Personally, I have always preferred to sleep from time to time, but if that’s your goal then all I can say is “go for it”. Plenty have, just look on the TruckNet ex-patriate’s forum and ask those guys.
I drove a few White Road Commanders ; awful !
Not many cabovers are being built now, conventional trucks are the most popular (we like to call them ‘hoods’)
The engines are getting more electronic stuff on them but the rest of the truck is rather crude with regards to transmissions and suspension , your right about them being twenty years behind 
I drive a Frieghtliner Columbia, it’s a basic fleet truck and ran ok but now it’s five years old and the cab has a few shakes and rattles now, guess that’s why they call them Frieghtshakers 
I’ve driven aussie built kenworths, both the cabover and the T604, driven a volvo VN, horrible thing, it was an old one though.
driven a couple of business class freightliners, theyre pretty good, nice with the ■■■■■■■ engine in them anyway, had a short spin in a freightliner argosy as well, that was a bit of fun let me tell ya, so much space inside.
all in all i prefer the euro trucks, but thats maybe cos ive grown up with them with my dad driving scanias and mercs
I still think the conventionals are far better. They are easy to work on, cheaper to buy, have more room and earn my living. They may lack some of the finesse of European trucks, but they are designed to do the job and that is all. Of course, there are trucks that have ergonomics in mind, but things like my T800 are purely functional.l
I doubt there is a euro truck that would take the kind of stick I have just been putting one of these through. There would be nothing left of a Scania or Volvo, let alone a Renault or Iveco.
They do exactly what they say on the tin. The long wheelbase makes a difference, too.
thing about the kenworths, they havent changed them at all over the years, maybe thats because if it aint broke dont fix it, but compared to the freightliner argosy, its competior the k104 / 108 is basically a dinosaur, i will agree theyre certainly workhorses though, none of this plastic nonsense you find on the euro trucks
you cant go past a volvo or a merc for comfort though
Ive driven my mates Kenworth cabover a few times to shows for him and found it to be uncomfortable and noisy,yet I prefered driving his 1960’s Atkinson Borderer which you could say the same things about to be honest
I had a Mack B61 Thermodyne in Oz and thought it was one of the best ever - mind you that was in the 60s and everything else was pretty basic then too. I drove it over dirt tracks though as well as bitumen and it was comfy enough. Had one or two now disappeared (I think) good features like an air starter - you never get stuck with one of those. 
id say the new western star would be a nice drive, havent driven one but ive had a look inside the cab of one, everything looks pretty tasty
surprisingly cheap, some of em truckertotrucker.com/search_ … &PageNum=1
i saw a volvo us style on the A2, pulling a container, must have been imported
I spent a week in Atlanta and Georgia area in a Volvo 660, Double drive with a Detroit 500 engine, The cab was nice especially with the extra room over a FH12, but the drive was terrible, and the Detroit was completly gutless.
I have also spent time in Peterbuilts/Kenworths etc and they all were the same drive wise as the Volvo without the benefit of a decent cab, Yes there was plenty of room in the sleeper, but the driving area was so narrow in many cases you could open the passenger door from the drivers seat. The dash boards are overrun with completly unneeded dials and switches and the whole ergonomics make a Bedford TL almost spaceship like.
American trucks, Imposing to look at, Nice sleepers, apart from that years behind European specs.